Minimising unwanted email

Your safety and privacy online is important to us. As outlined in our Privacy Policy, we do not sell or disclose your information for marketing purposes and we limit the disclosure of your contact information to other eBay members. We'll only disclose your email address to your trading partners.

Most private communication, including email correspondence, is not regulated by eBay. We've created policies to encourage members to be courteous and respectful when sending email. However, we will investigate and may take action on unwanted email you report to us.

In addition, there are measures you can take to minimise the unwanted email you receive.

To minimise unwanted email you can:

Choose a User ID that is just for eBay. Your User ID is the nickname that identifies you on eBay. Choosing a User ID that is not related to your email address will help prevent individuals who send unsolicited commercial email (spam) from guessing your email address. This will also minimise unwelcome email from other eBay members. If your User ID is the same or similar to your email address, you may want to change your User ID.

Note: eBay members will still be able to contact you through our email forwarding system. You can access this system by clicking the Contact Member button on any member's feedback profile. We will investigate any misuse of eBay Email Forwarding System.

Adjust your communication preferences in My eBay. You can decide which email messages you receive from eBay by changing your communication preferences. To change your communication preferences, go to My eBay, and in the My eBay Views column, under the My Account section, click the "Preferences" link. For more information, see Setting Your eBay Preferences.

Use email filters. Most email programs allow you to block email messages that contain certain words or are sent from addresses that you specify. The process for blocking unwanted email varies depending on what type of browser or email program you have. In most cases, you'll need the sender's email address. For more information about how to set filters, consult your email program's Help files or contact your email provider.

Important: When you set up email filters, make sure that the filters do not block any important messages that you may need to receive from eBay.

Change your email address. There are several ways that individuals can obtain your email address, including message boards, chat rooms and email messages sent by friends or relatives to multiple email addresses (for example, forwarded jokes or news articles). In order to prevent the receipt of unwanted email in your eBay account, you may want to register an email address that you use only for buying and selling on eBay. Most Internet service providers (ISPs) allow users to register multiple email addresses. There are also a number of services that offer free email accounts. After you have opened a new email address, you can change the email address on your eBay account. Once you have changed your email address, any email you receive from eBay will be directed to that address

Report the unwanted email. You can report any unwanted and offensive email to the sender's Internet service provider (ISP) or email provider. If the email is deemed inappropriate, the ISP/email provider has jurisdiction to take action. If you feel unsafe or are afraid for your personal safety, report the incident to your local Police.

Email that breaches eBay policies

eBay will investigate and can take action on reports of the following:

Threats of Bodily Harm – It is not permitted for our members to send explicit threats of bodily harm. This page explains what to do if you have received an email threat.

Misuse of eBay Forwarding System – We enable members to facilitate transactions through the Contact an eBay Member feature, but will investigate any misuse of this service.

Spoof (Fake) Email – We will never ask you to provide sensitive information through email. This page shows how to identify whether or not a message was sent by eBay, as well as what you should do if you receive such a message.

Spam (Unsolicited Commercial Email) – eBay's spam policy applies only to unsolicited commercial messages sent by eBay members. This page details the types of spam mail that you can report to us.

Offers to Buy or Sell Outside eBay – eBay prohibits email offers to buy or sell listed items outside the eBay online marketplace. Offers of this nature are a potential fraud risk for both buyers and sellers.

What eBay does to help reduce unwanted email

eBay digitally signs every email we send to you. Email providers use this signature to authenticate legitimate emails coming from eBay and reduce the amount of spoof (fake) emails reaching your inbox.

Contact Customer Support

If you have an additional question about this subject, please email us at Customer Support. If you would like to ask a question on another subject, please use the Contact Us page.

Contact us

Have a question? We can help.

Contact us

Ask eBay members

Get help from other eBay members. Visit the Answer Centre to post a question.